Improvisational Comedy for Improvisational Comedy's Sake

Organic Group Games class

Objective:Building patterns one step at a time, it doesn’t matter what “type” of game we’re playing. From any Offer, through agreements’ simplification, repetitions’ clarification and progressions’ heightening a group can confidently navigate and focus “organic” games.

5.0 Warm-Ups:Build energy and concentrate energy.

Suggested Exercises:

CRAZY EIGHTS

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5.1 One Start, Multiple Ends:The rubric game mechanics can be applied to any initiation. And the combination of mechanics can facilitate organic game play.

Suggested Exercises:

1 SCES TO TtE, HD & HE – A player initiates with a Self Contained Emotional Statement. Other players build on, working to set and cement toward a To The Ether, Help Desk or Hey Everybody game. Clear the stage. Then the same initiating player gives the same SCES and another of the rubric games is built on top. Clear stage, repeat.

Example:Player 1 enters, holding a mimed map, looking up and around and says, “Man, New York is so intimidating; where’s the Empire State Building?”

To The Ether Game – Player 2 enters on all fours, wiggling their nose and says, “Man, this maze is crazy complicated; where the hell’s that cheese?” Player 3 enters with arms pressed to his sides, wiggling his whole body and says, in an angry character accent, “Man, these fallopian tubes are all dark and twisted; where the fuck that egg at?”

Help Desk Game – Player 2 enters and says, “I’ll help you…” Player 3 watches that interaction, enters after Player 2 finds reason to leave and mirrors certain aspects of the interaction while heightening others

Hey Everybody Game – Player 2 enters and says, “Hey, you gots all of New York at your disposal, we’ll get you where you need to go,” effectively calling on additional players who find their own place and filter while respecting Player 1 as the facilitator

Lessons:

Clear moves breed clear games – get everyone on the same page and everyone can play; set up a clear progression and the group will be compelled to play

The rubric game mechanics are tools to shape any game – the core mechanics give us a way to relate and progress moves, they don’t dictate a game.

TtE Core – heightening one perspective/idea? Build a progression thinking about elevating the relationship between A and B in C’s relationship to B.

HD Core – heightening an interaction? Follow, not just “the joke,” but the full swath of scene elements (dialogue structure, word choice, emotion, pacing, beginning, end, etc.). Build a progression, heightening elements that change between interactions and repeating elements that repeat between interactions.

HE Core – heightening a collection of disparate elements? Establish stable ground for yourself as quickly as possible with a bold emotional reaction. Build the progression through repetition of the sequence – players contributing in-turn and heightening through their personal filter.

5.2 Organic Montage:Use the combinations of game mechanics to facilitate a varied run of games.

Suggested Exercises:

ORGANIC GROUP GAME MONTAGE – A run of group games, edited and continued by the group.